Kevin Durant Said 'Shut the F--k Up' to LeBron Celebrating James Harden 2012 Trade

Thirteen years after the Oklahoma City Thunder made the fateful trade to send James Harden to the Houston Rockets, Kevin Durant still feels raw about what could have been with that team.

On the new season of Netflix's Starting 5, when discussing the 2012 deal, Durant explained his reaction when opposing players, including LeBron James, were celebrating the trade was to say "shut the f--k up."

Durant went on to say that James and the rest of the NBA was happy the Thunder trio got broken up because they were "f--king scared" because they "knew we was on our way" to being a dominant franchise.

James' response on social media was one in which he didn't seem totally surprised by Oklahoma City's decision as much as the timing of it.

The trade came together very late in the offseason, with Harden being dealt to the Rockets on Oct. 27, 2012, five days before the Thunder opened the regular season. It happened after the two sides were unable to agree to terms on a long-term contract extension.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported at the time that the stalemate between Harden and the Thunder was over $5 million. He wanted a full max worth $60 million over four years, but Oklahoma City's final offer was "in the range" of $55 million for four years.

According to Windhorst, the Thunder operated with a philosophy where "the individual sacrifices for the whole." General manager Sam Presti also operated with what players described as a "rigid" negotiating style because he didn't want to run the risk of free agency, when more money from other teams comes into play.

At one point in the show, former Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers said everyone in the NBA thought that the Thunder were "going to be in the Finals for the next three, four, five years" before it ended "for financial reasons."

The trio of Durant, Harden and Russell Westbrook was the envy of the NBA for a period of time because they were all drafted between 2007 to '09 and developed into high-level players within their first three seasons.

Harden was coming off winning Sixth Man of the Year in 2011-12. The Thunder finished with a 47-19 record in that lockout-shortened season, cruised through the Western Conference playoffs with a 12-3 record to set up a showdown with James and the Miami Heat in the Finals.

The young Thunder group was overwhelmed by Miami in the series, losing in five games, but it seemed like the stage was set for them to be a dominant force in the West with their own Big Three to rival James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in the East.

Trading Harden didn't totally sink Oklahoma City because it won at least 55 games in three of the next four seasons and reached the Western Conference Finals twice, but it was unable to get over the final hurdle.

Durant left the Thunder in the summer of 2016 to join the Golden State Warriors and form his own superteam with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

Oklahoma City did eventually find its path back thanks in no small part to the 2019 trade that sent Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers for a package headlined by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and five first-round draft picks.

It also seems that Presti and the Thunder learned their lessons about hardline negotiating from the Harden fiasco. They committed $822 million in extensions to Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren this summer after that group led them to an NBA title last season.